Sporting Families Who Made Their Mark

For many years we have seen many different families who have entered in to the world of sport, some will follow in their parent’s footsteps, others will try their hand at other sports wit varying degrees of success. Indeed there are many who have looked to emulate the success of their parents and have failed as a result of the sheer pressure on their shoulders, this is completely understandable and it makes the following list of people who have achieved as much or more than their parents, all the more impressive.

The Elways

John Elway is a Hall of Fame NFL player who has won 2 Super Bowls, been voted Super Bowl MVP and also won a third Vincent Lombardi trophy as a general manager. It is because of this success, all of which he had at the Denver Broncos, that his name is synonymous with football in Denver. John’s father Jack Elway could very well have had a similarly successful career had it not been cut short by injury but that did not stop hime from becoming a legend of the game thanks to his incredible college coaching record.

The Noahs

A ferocious tennis player, Yannick Noah played throughout the 70s in the era of Bjorn Bjorg and John McEnroe and throughout his career he would win over 30 titles including the French Open, the first Frenchman to do so in over 30 years. Yannick’s son Joakim decided that tennis was not for him and instead pursued a career in basketball. Having been picked by the Chicago Bulls at number 6 in the draft, Noah junior went on to become one of the best defensive players in the NBA and a 2 time All-Star before signing a bumper $72 million deal with the New York Knicks in 2016, Noah also represents France at national level.

The Bonds

No family has done to baseball what the Bonds family have which started with father Bobby and a 21 year career which saw him smash MBL batting records for fun. Bobby finished his career with 321 home runs, 3 All Star appearances and a 3 time Golden Glove winner. Son Barry had a lot to live up to but after reflecting on his career, it clearly didn’t affect him. Barry is now regarded as one of the greatest to have veer played the game and his records totals of 762 homers and 541 stolen bases most certainly backs up that claim. Something special happened between the 1990 and 1992 season when both father Bobby and son Barry were playing in the same team at the Seattle Mariners. The two record breakers would go on to set another record during their time in Seattle and became the first father/son duo to hit back to back home runs. Whatever it is in the blood of those Bonds boys is certainly something very powerful indeed.